Half Rotten
by messynotebooks
Summary: Snippy has horrific nightmares. Captain worries a little too much.
1. Chapter 1

***DISCLAIMER: I don't own Romantically Apocalyptic, or any of the characters.***

**I decided to write this on a whim. I'm not sure how I feel about this yet, and I'm not quite sure where it's going to lead. Let me know how it is and if I should continue! Be brutally honest, I can take it. Thanks for reading!**

I didn't need ANNET to have nightmares. Even with the absence of communication towers, dark figures and eerie wails made their way into my dreams. I often woke up in the middle of the night, a cold sweat soaking my skin and blood stained clothes.

Tonight was different. I jolted awake, as usual, after a particularly horrible nightmare about the Cancer incident. My hands were white-knuckled as they gripped the sides of the half-rotten sofa I called a bed. Indifferent moonlight filtered through the multiple cracks in the ramshackle walls of the one-room shed Captain called "Headquarters". Nobody here in this wasteland slept very well, but I seemed to be the only one awake. Engie was slumped over the kitchen table, snoring softly. Pilot had wandered off somewhere to sleep, claiming that "dirty shoes" like us couldn't be around him while he slept. He didn't trust us. Can you say "Mentally unstable"?

Captain, on the other hand, rarely slept. I wasn't all that surprised to see him lounging in a threadbare recliner, calmly watching me as I recovered from whatever the hell I had just dreamt.

"What do you want this time?" I growled. I didn't exactly enjoy having Captain watch me sleep. But I didn't hate it, either.

"I've noticed my Sniper doesn't sleep very well." His normally flamboyant and self-important voice was quieter and more sheepish.

"I'm touched." He has to be up to something.

"I just vanted to make sure mein Snippy was alright…"

"I'm fine. Go to sleep or something."

"You don't seem fine, Mister Snippy." Even though his face was concealed by his usual gas mask and goggles, I was sure he looked concerned. Since when did Captain care about anyone? Since when did Captain care about me?

"I'd be fine if you'd let me sleep, Captain."

Even Captain knew when enough was enough. "Alright, Alright. I vill see you in zee morning, Sniper of mein. Good night."

"Mmmph. 'Night."

The last thing I heard before drifting off to sleep was the soft _thud _of Captain's boots as he walked out into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: fdjasklfjad you guys are so nice! :D I hope this next chapter is as good as you hoped. If not, let me know how I can improve! I'm also really sorry that these chapters are painfully short. :/ Love ya faces!**

The next morning was uneventful. Captain was back to giving infuriating orders and being uncaring. Maybe there was a full moon out last night or something. That's the only reasonable (ish) explanation for Captain's weird behavior towards me.

It was late afternoon when I had finished scavenging enough food to keep the four of us going for a while longer. Surviving in this wasteland is hard, but it's even more difficult when you're constantly trying to keep your mind off of the insane man giving you orders. Was he just naturally nutty? Or did the nuclear fallout mess him up? Eventually the task of finding non-radioactive edible material had taken all focus away from all what happened last night. I only remembered it when, tired and relieved, I stumbled into our HQ and collapsed on the tattered sofa. Any plans I had to sleep for an hour or two were immediately ruined when Captain walked in.

"Snippy, I need to talk to you." Dear God, he was concerned again. Why?

"About what?" Why was it that every time he tried to talk to me, I was half asleep?

"I have noticed you having zee nightmares recently. I am vorried about my Sniper."

"I've told you before, Captain. I'm fine. They're just bad dreams."

"I'm not going to believe you every time, Snippy. I know they're not just bad dreams." He was actually serious.

I glanced over at him, looking at the soulless purple goggles that hid his eyes. What color were his actual eyes? Would I ever find out? So many stupid questions I was asking myself.

He continued."I've seen you sleep, Snippy. I don't think eet is normal to thrash around. I don't think eet is normal to wake up sweating. Do you think this ees normal?"

Of course I didn't. I didn't doubt that he'd been watching me sleep, either. But why did Captain even care? I had thought this so many times that I didn't think I'd ever get a straight answer from myself.

"Well, no. I guess. But what does it matter to you?" I had to know what was up.

Captain, although I couldn't see his face (I doubted I ever would), looked taken aback. "Vat does it matter to me? Do you not think a captain should care about his sniper?" He strode to the sofa and sat down next to me.

"I didn't think you were capable of caring."

He puts a gloved hand on my knee. "Of course I am. Vat makes you think I do not care about my minions?""

"Have you seen yourself? You only ever give us orders."

"Vell I _am _zee captain, Mr. Snippy. Besides, vat vould I do without my Sniper especially?"

"You'd be fine without me. Anyone could do what I do."

Captain is silent for what feels like an eternity. His hand is still on my knee. I should pull away, get up, leave. But I don't. I sit and watch him.

Finally, Captain replies. "I wouldn't be fine. I'd be different."

Where was this conversation leading?

"Different how?"

"I'd be less happy, I think. I don't want the Sniper zat makes me happy to be sad himself."

So I was important to him. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, was it?

"Okay." I looked around a minute to clear my head. "Hey, I'm going to try and sleep for a while. We can talk more later, alright?"

Captain nodded. "Zat is okay vith me."

He walks outside into the late afternoon and I'm left with more questions about Captain than ever.


End file.
